Category Archives: WeyPAW Campaign

The recent statement by local officials on poverty wages and well-being in Weymouth and Portland is a timely development. Signed by a group of organisations including the Borough Council and the County Council, and by MP Richard Drax, this is the first formal response by elected officials to the social crisis in the area. It suggests recognition of their responsibility to address the crisis and the need for active remedial policies.

(See statement attached below, in the names of: the Chief Executive of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, the Leader of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, the Chief Executive of Dorset County Council, the Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, and the Member of Parliament for South Dorset.)

Weymouth and Portland Action on Wages (WeyPAW) welcomes this statement, anticipating that it will encourage public debate on the crisis. The statement is evasive, however, and offers little to rectify pressing problems. Below we respond to key points in the statement. We also propose urgent measures to address the crisis in our area:

an audit of employer practices on wages and in-work benefits;

an education programme to inform local people of rights and entitlements at work;

prompt action on local housing stock (including unoccupied houses);

free school meals for all children in Weymouth & Portland;

consolidation of local health services.

In addition WeyPAW advocates for:

a special fund to tackle problems of seasonal employment;

strengthened trade union organisation in our workplaces;

a sustained campaign by local officials and MPs to radically improve transport links by road and rail;

a Weymouth and Portland conference on poverty and social disadvantage.

Poverty wages

At the root of problems in Weymouth and Portland (W&P) is a crisis of poverty wages. The area has recently been identified as having the lowest average wages in the UK. Using official government figures, in October 2017 the Trades Union Congress noted that average weekly wages in W&P – at £282.90 – were the lowest in the UK.

Why are wages so low? The recent statement by the Council and others identifies W&P with problems common to coastal areas with a rural hinterland. It observes: “We have a seasonal, low-pay economy with few large employers. Like other coastal towns we are remote from a strong industrial base, which means a lack of investment and opportunity.”

This observation conceals a stark reality: many employers in the area pay wages below levels elsewhere because they hope to exploit what they see as a “weak” local labour market. In 2016 there was a major dispute in Weymouth involving First Group buses over its reprehensible policy of paying local drivers at a rate lower than anywhere else in the country – even less than its own drivers in Yeovil and Poole. Here, low pay was an outcome of a deliberate strategy – and when employers succeed in such practices they encourage others to follow suit, driving down average wages.

Rights at work

Some employers avoid obligations on sick pay and holiday pay – a significant component of the total wage. In effect, they withhold wages.

Some employers insist that staff are falsely recorded as “self-employed”, so they can avoid obligations to those defined in law as “workers”. They insist on Zero Hours Contracts, so that employees have no regular hours of work and are vulnerable to abrupt changes in working arrangements. They pressure staff to undertake unpaid overtime, pay wages late and make deductions that do not appear on payment records.

The clustering in our area of large corporate employers who pursue these practices – notably in hotels, the leisure industry (including holiday camps and resorts) and catering (pubs, coffee chains, cafes and restaurants) – means that these illicit practices can become a local “standard”, driving down average wages.

The result is “in-work” poverty. Thousands of families struggle to get by even though adults are in employment and may have more than one job – combining part-time, insecure and low-paid positions.

These problems can be ameliorated by monitoring employer practices and enforcing the law on rights at work. The Council and our local MPs should take the lead by initiating an audit of the local economy and directing Council officers to enforce relevant legislation rigorously.

Housing and transport

Living costs in W&P are higher than in most parts of the UK. House prices and rents are on average significantly higher and in 2015-16 average Council Tax in W&P at £1,756 was the highest in the UK (Band D property, government figures).

The average house price in the UK is £226,000 (government figures, January 2018). The average price in Weymouth is £271,150; in Portland (with many fewer properties) it’s £203,609 (figures from Zoopla, March 2018). Average house prices nationally are falling but in Weymouth they are rising – up on average by £8,692 (3.31 per cent) over the past year – and this is reflected in high local rents.

Meanwhile, according to local authorities, hundreds of homes are unoccupied, many for more than two years. The effect is to maintain prices and rents at a level unaffordable for most people in W&P, who face a lethal combination of high costs and low wages.

“Isolation” of W&P can be addressed by improved transport services but key transport links continue to deteriorate – as with South-Western Railways planned reduction in train services and recent cuts to bus routes. These make access to work difficult or much more expensive for many people. Not everyone can afford to run a car or take a taxi daily to work! W&P needs active policies for housing and transport to help tackle the crisis of poverty wages.

Children and young people

The wages crisis in W&P has a special impact on young people, who are often compelled to accept jobs at the lowest rates of pay. Anecdotal evidence suggests that they are particularly vulnerable to employers wishing to avoid payment of in-work benefits, those who impose Zero Hours Contracts and make short or late payments of wages. (This requires full investigation by means of an audit of local employer practices.)

Our secondary schools in W&P have struggled to meet national average levels for educational attainment. Despite the best efforts of teachers and support staff they cannot compensate for repeated cuts. Dorset is one of the worst funded areas in the country: local head teachers say that year after year they have to reduce staff numbers, so that schools are unable to offer the educational experience they wish to provide.

In an area affected by poverty wages the effect is to limit further opportunities for local children. It’s no surprise that W&P is at the bottom of indices for social mobility in the UK (third from the bottom of the latest tables for all areas in the country).

New regulations on Universal Benefit mean that thousands of schoolchildren will be unable to claim Free School Meals. Children in all classes from Year 3 will no longer have access to Free School Meals if household incomes exceed £7,400. The impact in W&P will be serious and schools will struggle with the added problem of teaching children who are hungry, tired and prone to illness.

It is not good enough for elected officials in the area to state merely that they are committed “to make sure pupils in the area reach their full potential” (see below). A coherent strategy for children and young people (including a commitment to provide Free School Meals) is a must if W&P is to offer a meaningful future in education and in work.

Conference

The statement below invokes us “to celebrate what is great about Weymouth and Portland”. The current crisis, however, is causing huge distress and loss of confidence in the area, despite the strong attachment of most people to Weymouth, the Island, and to South Dorset.

Pride in beaches, parks, gardens and the Jurassic Coast (see below) does not pay the bills, while the collapse of expectations following the 2012 Olympics and Paralympics is a striking feature of discussions with local people about life in W&P.

There are other contentious assertions in the statement below. These can best be addressed in full discussion with councillors, MPs and others – which is why WeyPAW advocates a conference open to the public on poverty wages and well-being in Weymouth and Portland. This would provide an opportunity to discuss in detail policies for change and how they are to be enacted.

Weymouth and Portland Action on Wages March 2018

Concerns were recently raised at a meeting of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council. What follows here is a joint response from organisations that provide public services outlining the work that is being done to improve things.

Thank you to Pete Barrow for raising important points (highlighted in bold below) at the recent full council meeting of Weymouth & Portland Borough Council.

It is very true that we are facing complex challenges. The context, as people will be aware is that we are a coastal area with a rural hinterland. We have a seasonal, low-pay economy with few large employers. Like other coastal towns we are remote from a strong industrial base, which means a lack of investment and opportunity. Local agencies are working hard to address the challenges associated with this and this is a joint response.

Joint working is increasing between Weymouth & Portland Borough Council, Dorset County Council, Dorset Police, Dorset Police and Crime Commissioner, Public Health Dorset, Dorset CCG, Weymouth College and the local community. We will try and address the points raised below.

We have the third worst social mobility in the country

Social mobility is a complex issue which no agency can tackle alone.

Details of how agencies are working to improve social mobility are set out here:

A report, published in 2017, called ‘The State of the Nation, Social Mobility in Great Britain’ identified hot spots where social mobility is good and cold spots where it is poor. The report looks at indicators in four domains – early years, school, youth and working lives. We are not complacent and recognise the urgent need for all agencies to work together to improve social mobility.

We have two areas that fall within the 10% most deprived in England

Parts of our borough including Melcombe Regis are within the top 10% most deprived areas according to the Index of Multiple Deprivation, 2015. The causes of inequality are multiple and need to be tackled by all agencies. This is why the Melcombe Regis Board was set up, so leaders of public agencies can work together to improve quality of life.

The ‘Working with You’ initiative in Littlemoor, Melcombe Regis, Underhill and Westham is also tackling the problems causing inequality. We are tackling issues such as long-term health and wellbeing, poor quality housing, crime, social isolation and creating an improved local economy providing better life chances. A 2018 update on the project is available here.

We have the lowest pay in the country

We have not been able to identify your source data for stating that Weymouth is the lowest paid area in the country. Our review of the data published by the Office for National Statistics through its Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings (ASHE) is more positive.

It states that the gross weekly average full time earnings for Weymouth and Portland is around £500, which is not the lowest in the country. The ASHE provisional workplace earnings for 2017, published last autumn, shows median work placed based gross full time wages at £500.20 in Weymouth and Portland. This is an increase on 2016, while the residence based assessment (wages of people who live in Weymouth) is £510.50. Both of these are about midpoint in a list of 41 local authorities in the south west.

However, it is true that the number of jobs earning less than living wage is higher than in some other parts of Dorset. This reflects the type of employment, such as seasonal work in accommodation and food services, available in the borough.

We have a vision – the Town Centre Masterplan – to attract more quality jobs and improve prosperity. It was one of only five projects in 2015 to win Government Growth Deal Funding (£600,000) from the Dorset Local Enterprise Partnership.

Unemployment is currently low in Weymouth and Portland, running at 1.3 per cent in September 2017.

We have an escalating problem with anti-social behaviour with many residents now genuinely frightened for their own safety

Concerns have been expressed recently about the behaviour of a small group of 14 and 15 year olds in Weymouth town centre. The police and the borough council’s Community Safety Team work hard to tackle anti-social behaviour and have effective systems in place for dealing with it.

As Cllr Francis Drake mentioned briefly on the radio piece this week, we currently run the ‘Do You Know Where Your Children Are?’ campaign. This sees tiered warning letters sent home to parents if their children are found engaging in anti-social behaviour. Multi-agency case conferences are held to address underlying causes and make sure the right referrals are made. If necessary, Acceptable Behaviour Contracts are then offered to put parameters in place to manage behaviour. The team are also looking at providing youth outreach work for key periods like Saturday afternoons. When we have details of this we will share this with you.

It is worth noting that while these actions are usually effective in dealing with anti-social behaviour when it occurs, we cannot easily prevent isolated incidents from happening. There is a lot of work going on in this area and it is important to highlight that the vast majority of young people are a credit to our community. These recent incidents involved around 10 children. Work is now ongoing with them.

Police Sergeant Andy Jenkins, of Weymouth Neighbourhood Policing Team, has also said: “We will not accept anyone engaging in anti-social behaviour (ASB) and causing distress to residents, visitors and businesses.

“I want to reassure the public that we have identified the group of teenagers involved in incidents of ASB over the last few weeks. We have put in place dedicated police officers who will directly target these individuals and, where appropriate, look to put them before the courts. Where there is a clear necessity offenders will be arrested. We also have other enforcement options we are considering, including criminal behaviour orders and dispersal orders.”

The Office of the Police and Crime Commissioner (OPCC) have said: Anti-social behaviour affects residents’ quality of life across the county and must be addressed through engagement, enforcement and diversion. The Safer Dorset Fund Community Grant has been established as a funding source for voluntary and community sector organisations to deliver projects that meet one or more of the Police & Crime Plan priorities. The OPCC encourages community groups to be part of the solution. Find out more here.

The OPCC looks to support innovative schemes. In 2016, the OPCC supported a new breathalyser pilot in Weymouth to empower licensed premises to manage excessively intoxicated patrons, in an effort to tackle anti-social behaviour issues linked to the night-time economy. More information can be found here.

We are also supporting the early scoping for inclusion CSAS (Community Safety Accredited Officers) within the town and have allocated funding to the venture. This follows on from a successful approach using CSAS in the Bournemouth area also supported by this OPCC. More information on CSAS can be found here.

The OPCC has also supported the investment of a community capacity support worker, which will serve to build a strong and resilient local community and build community cohesion by effective working with service providers, advocate their needs and support action to address the identified problems in these areas. Work will include engagement with hard to reach groups.

We have drug taking and drug dealing taking place in public

Here is a response from Weymouth & Portland Neighbourhood Inspector Steve Yeoman: “Tackling drug misuse and dealing is a priority for Dorset Police and we fully understand from speaking with residents how it impacts on the community, but this issue is not just unique to Weymouth and can be seen in many towns across the country.

“Some residents who report drug misuse and dealing may believe we take no action, but not all reports warrant an immediate police response. I want to reassure the public that we use all reports of drug misuse and dealing to gain an intelligence picture and gather necessary evidence to target drug dealers and safeguard vulnerable people. This can be seen through all the various drug warrants we have carried out, arrests and convictions that we have secured recently.

“However, solving this issue does not just involve Dorset Police. It requires of a wide range of agencies working in partnership including Weymouth & Portland Borough Council’s Community Safety Team, British Transport Police, Public Health Dorset and other charities and agencies.

“Simply arresting drug addicts is not going to solve the issue in the long term. Many of these people do have deep-lying problems that need addressing and that is why we want to signpost them to support agencies in order to help them to improve their ways. We do have enforcement options available to deal with those who refuse to accept help.”

OPCC response: Resolving drug issues goes beyond the remit of the police to enforce. In the past, I have supported the concept of a drug and alcohol recovery hub in this part of the county. We know there are links between drug and alcohol misuse and offending behaviour, and such a facility has the potential to reduce crime by providing tailored, professional support to those who need it.

Our secondary schools are the lowest performers in Dorset

Here is a response from Dorset County Council:

We are, of course, disappointed that the performance of secondary schools in the Weymouth and Portland area is below the national average. Significant support has been put in place, both by the Regional Schools Commissioner and Dorset County Council, to turn this around. The Dorset Education Advisory Service and senior officers are fully committed to supporting the schools concerned to make sure pupils in the area reach their full potential.

We have an escalating housing crisis rough sleeping up 60% in a year

The annual rough sleeper count (carried out on a single night in November each year) revealed a total of 18 rough sleepers in 2017 in Weymouth and Portland, up from 11 in 2016. This reflects a similar upward trend across the country.

The borough council funds a Rough Sleeper Outreach Service for Weymouth and Portland. Our service provider, Julian House, engage proactively with people found sleeping on the streets, and do what they can to help them into settled accommodation, to tackle other underlying issues such as alcohol and drug dependency and so on. We also work in close partnership with a range of other agencies, such as Dorset County Council and The Lantern, to improve the situation of rough sleepers.

A group of Trustees and volunteers have recently set up the Bus Shelter scheme, which can provide overnight accommodation for up to 17 rough sleepers, and although it has only been up and running for a few weeks in a borough council-owned car park in the Lodmoor area, a number of rough sleepers have already been taken from the streets and the signs are good that the scheme can make a major contribution to alleviating local rough sleeping problems with funding support from Dorset County Council.

We have an agreed protocol that sets out how we deal with rough sleepers during periods of extremely cold weather, and this came into effect during the recent freezing weather. Numerous people were taken off the streets and helped into a range of types of short term temporary accommodation.

With regards to homelessness more generally, in our experience, much of this arises when private rented sector landlords perfectly legally end the tenancies of their tenants, who struggle to be able to afford to find somewhere else to live. Under such circumstances, we have a scheme whereby we can fund people’s rental deposits and first month’s rent, and this has made a tremendously positive difference for many local people over the years.

There is a huge imbalance between the demand for and availability of affordable housing locally. The borough council does what it can to enable the building of new affordable housing, whether for rent or shared ownership, and it will continue to do so.

OPCC response:In October 2017, the OPCC hosted its inaugural Problem Solving Forum to consider the issue of homelessness. The Commissioner pledged to bring together stakeholders including those from the voluntary sector to facilitate more effective joint working on issues that are long-standing, reoccurring and require a multi-agency response. The PCC Innovation Fund is available for proposals borne out of the Problem Solving Forum, but will only be allocated where action plans meet strict criteria. Ideas must be scoped into business cases that outline how initiatives will make a real difference to community safety.

Our children have the worst obesity rates in Dorset

Here is a response from Dorset County Council:

This is an area of concern for reception children, as data for 2013-17 suggests that obesity is higher than the national average. However, in the same time scale, the data for year 6 pupils shows a lower proportion of children with obesity than the national average.

Although there is no room for complacency in addressing barriers to a healthy weight, this is an issue across all local authority areas and not specific to Weymouth and Portland. There is also a link between childhood obesity and areas of deprivation. The data is available here:

No one single intervention or initiative will address obesity, and relies on organisations working collectively to tackle the issue and support families.

Mental health admissions in W+P are greater than in Bournemouth

Here is a response from Dorset County Council with information from Dorset NHS Clinical Commissioning Group and Dorset Healthcare:

Dorset NHS Clinical Commissioning Group is not able to confirm this and say about 70% of the demand for inpatient services comes from Bournemouth and Poole. Looking at serious mental illness prevalence rates by GP locality, Weymouth and Portland is the third highest in the Dorset CCG area and above the national average.

With investment and support from Dorset NHS Clinical Commissioning Group, Dorset HealthCare is introducing a number of changes which will improve the provision of mental health care across Dorset – including Weymouth and Portland. There will be an additional 16 inpatient care beds, including four at Forston Clinic near Dorchester, and the creation of two new ‘Retreats’ (including one in Dorchester) where people can access the professional treatment and support they need. The Trust is also introducing three community ‘front rooms’ (including one in West Dorset), giving people in crisis access to specialist peer support workers. And further enhanced support will be available through Connection, a 24/7 crisis line. These changes will complement Dorset HealthCare’s existing community mental health teams working in the Weymouth and Portland area.

Life expectancy is the lowest in the County

Life expectancy in the borough varies according to where people live. For men, there is a difference of 10.7 years in life expectancy across the borough. For women, the range is 7.9 years.

To set this in a national context, life expectancy for men in Weymouth & Portland is 78.5 years compared to 79.5 years in England. Life expectancy for women is 83.4 years compared to the 83.1 for England. Looking at the most deprived areas of the borough, there is a gap of 5.3 years to the borough average for men and a gap of 3.4 years for women.

In summary, there are complex challenges facing us. We, the providers of public services, recognise this. We are working hard, and increasingly together, to improve things.

While not in any way detracting from the problems facing us, it is also important to celebrate what is great about Weymouth and Portland. We have one of the best beaches in the country, set off beautifully following the successful Seafront Regeneration Project, part of the £3.5million project to improve Weymouth seafront. We have the most amazing natural environment on our door step. Our Jurassic Coast is now famous as a World Heritage site and we are surrounded by an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty. We are known internationally as one of the best places for sailing, following our successful hosting of the 2012 Olympic and Paralympics. We have lots of wonderful award-winning parks and gardens. We also have an engaged community, who are passionate to work with us to improve things, which is evidenced by your group as well as in many other projects.

Thank you again for your questions, we hope these responses help to set in context what we are currently doing and we hope your group will work with us to help improve quality of life in Weymouth and Portland further in the future. As discussed we are looking at how we can engage in a different way with our community, to harness their support for making things better. If anyone has any thoughts about this engagement please let us know in the comments section.

Parliament voted to remove free school meals for a million children on the 13th March. While the media was alight with the spy scandal, a vote went through that will result in some kids never being able to get a decent meal throughout the year.

Why does this matter? Hungry pupils are disruptive pupils and our already poor education standards in Weymouth & Portland are set to get far worse as a result. This doesn’t just matter to parents who are already on the breadline but everyone who sends their child to a state school across the borough.

Let’s break this argument down into bite sized chunks.

Parliament votes to take away only hot meal from a million kids

By 312 voted to 254, last week Parliament voted that “English families on universal credit will see the income threshold for free school meals slashed to £7,400 a year.” The plans were ready to slip through as a Statutory Instrument unchallenged but Labour stood up to it. The Conservative Party put a Three Line Whip on it and brought in the DUP. Needless to say Mr Richard Drax followed the party line, as did neighbouring Oliver Letwin.

Here at WeyPAW we don’t mind just how you vote – we are just stating that the MPs in question voted for children not to have free school meals. According to the Huffington Post, “Charities and other campaigners claim that the welfare reforms mean that up to a million children will be denied eligibility for free lunches.” It is estimated that 12,500 of those children will be from Dorset – including the Shire and the conurbation.

Education in the borough is already very poor

As a full time writer I am not about to criticise teachers. Only those without any idea about state school teaching criticise teachers for their ‘long holidays’ and ‘short weekdays’. I have a friend whom I wonder whether she will live to retirement age – she has had senior teaching roles which have frankly nearly killed her with stress. 60 hour weeks and maybe a half day off on Sunday are typical.

Fewer than half of children from the borough will get 5 good GCSEs aged 16. GCSE pass rate statistics from the school year 2015-16 in Weymouth and Portland are abysmal. The national average pass rate is 57.8% while the worst local education authority has a 44.8% pass rate. Weymouth & Portland sits at 47.5%.

Could hunger play a role?

In January 2016 the Guardian newspaper reported the results of a national survey of teachers across the UK. Half of them said that pupils came to school hungry 3-4 times a week. The article stated, “Hungry pupils were more likely to be lethargic and unable to concentrate, the teachers reported, and half the teachers said they were also more likely to be disruptive. A majority agreed that hungry pupils caused problems for other children in their classroom and needed more attention.”

One bad apple

From https://apps.geowessex.com/stats/Topics/Topic/Deprivation

You may be one of the majority of parents who bring up their children well. You may be on a middle income, and own your own tidy home. You are not exempted from this problem. It only takes one or two children in a class of 30 to screw up everyone’s education.

Here’s another report: TES teachers’ magazine stated that in 2014, “Pupils are missing out on 38 days of teaching each year due to low-level disruptive behaviour in the classroom, according to a new Ofsted report.”

The TES report continued, “The watchdog claims that students typically lose an hour of learning each day, due to teachers dealing with misbehaviour such as swinging on chairs, passing notes round and using mobile phones.” Many of these kids will be unable to concentrate for a variety of reasons including hunger.

So, those children from good households and ‘hardworking parents’ were having 38 days a year of education lost to disruptive pupils. What’s going to happen when every class has a starving pupil who can’t concentrate because they don’t get enough food to eat?

The answer is that every single child of school age is going to be affected by the free school meal issue.

Other factors – cuts

You cannot dodge the issue of resources being squeezed in the state school system. Our schools are at breaking point due to the government Austerity programme.

In May last year the Dorset Echo reported, “Mike Foley, headteacher of Thomas Hardye school in Dorchester, warned that schools could see an eight per cent budget cut by 2019/20. He said: “Like everyone else at the moment, we are making cuts and not replacing staff as they are leaving. Year on year we are having to reduce the amount of teachers, which is true of almost every school. In Dorset we are one of the worst funded areas in the country. The budget is being reduced by eight percent, which means we would need to lose 20 teachers by 2020.”

Fewer teachers mean bigger class sizes, less one on one time with pupils and greater difficulty in dealing with issues as they arise in the classroom.

Pupil referral units?

You cannot blame a child for their parents being too broke to feed them properly due to extreme poverty. Poverty doesn’t just choose the thick bully in the class – it affects people at random and the child who has real brains could be forced onto the dungheap of life perhaps due to their parents only able to get seasonal work or zero hours contracts after redundancy. Other kids will work extremely hard at their education but will have to care for their parents – can you blame a kid for having a disabled parent and looking after them from 5 in the morning until school time and then all evening after? Perhaps their mother had a stroke giving birth to them – can you blame the mother for having a stroke at childbirth and then being incapacitated for life? Can you blame a child for their parents taking a wrong turn in life due to the pain they felt themselves as children?

It is without doubt that in an ideal world the troubled child should have extra support. Child and Adolescent Mental Health Services (CAMHS) are so overstretched they can barely be called a service. Pupil Referral Units are at the edge of their capacity. Teaching Assistants are now as rare as hen’s teeth due to cuts. Whatever caused the problem, if you fall these days you’ll be lucky to get caught in a safety net.

Deprivation in Weymouth & Portland

From http://psnc.org.uk/dorset-lpc/wp-content/uploads/sites/15/2017/07/Health-Profiles-2017-WP.pdf

Weymouth & Portland – Action on Wages was set up because we have the lowest average income across the UK in any local authority. We aren’t just living in an area where people get bad wages. There are huge problems here.

According to the statistics website GeoWessex “There are twelve areas (out of a total of 249) in Dorset within the top 20% most deprived nationally for multiple deprivation, down from 13 in 20101. Nine of these are within the urban borough of Weymouth and Portland.” The suicide rate is among the highest in the UK. Drug abuse is sky high, and crime associated with drug and alcohol abuse is unacceptably high. Family problems associated with drugs, alcohol, mental health and worklessness issues lead to what are broken communities.

“What can I do about it?”

We hope that’s what you’re saying now. WeyPAW will be having a public meeting on Saturday 21st April to discuss the issue locally and nationally. Like our Facebook Page to keep up to date with the details. You can also call your MP Richard Drax to discuss why he voted to lower the threshold. I’m sure he’d be more than happy to discuss the issue – we have invited him to the meeting!

Pete Barrow gave a three minute speech to Weymouth and Portland Borough Council on the very real problem that people face with their incomes in the borough. This has been shared extensively on social media but if you haven’t seen this raw and powerful speech then it is worth 3 minutes of your time…

Good evening, My name is Pete Barrow and I’d like to talk about our Town.

I speak as a resident and as a member of the Facebook group WPBC Compliments, Complaints, Observations and Suggestions.

All of us that care about our town tend to take an interest in any news stories about it. I have to say that reading such stories of late has been a dismal experience.

Recent reports have told us that –

• We have the third worst social mobility in the Country

• We have two areas that fall within the 10% most deprived in England

• We have the lowest pay in the Country

• We have an escalating problem with antisocial behaviour in the Town with many residents now genuinely frightened for their own safety

• We have drug taking and drug dealing taking place in public

• Our secondary schools are the lowest performers in Dorset

• We have an escalating housing crisis with rough sleeping up 60% in a year

• Our children have the worst obesity rates in Dorset

• Mental health admissions in W+P are greater than in Bournemouth

• Life expectancy is the lowest in the County

• I could go on but I think that is more than enough

One recent quote from an article written by Will Hutton in the Observer reads as follows.

“Pity the child born in Weymouth, Corby or Carlisle, locked into poor schools, a lacklustre economy and few decent jobs. If he or she had been lucky enough to be born in Tower Hamlets, Hackney or Westminster, their life chances might have been transformed.”

It seems we are being used as a national example of what a failing Town looks like.

I have lived in our Town since 1970 and I have never known a time when we faced such a stream of negative news.

I know that I am not telling you anything that you don’t already know and I am assuming you care about it as much as I do.

I know many of these issues have been building for a few years and that many are common to seaside towns, I also know that no single authority can solve them alone.

But, I do have to say that whatever you have been doing to address matters up to this point in time, does not appear to be working!

Councillor Cant as leader of our council, Councillor Ferrari as a cabinet member with Dorset County Council, Mr Drax as our MP, Mr Prosser and Mrs Ward as our Chief Executives, Mr Underhill as our Police and Crime Commissioner. You all have the power and authority to do something.

We need to hear from you, we need some visible leadership, we need to know that you have acknowledged the scale of the problems we face and that you have a plan to do something about it.

In particular we need some real joined up leadership. Too often the Borough, the Police, the County and the CCG seem to be working in splendid isolation rather than working with our communities, to tackle these fundamental problems.

Please don’t tell us to hunt around on your websites to try and piece it together, get out there and lead, tell us how you are going to solve the issues.

We don’t’ expect an answer tonight just some action in the coming days and weeks.

In Weymouth and Portland employers underpay their staff. Sometimes this is illegal, but often enough it is to the letter of the law. Let’s look at some practices that are well known.

What should I be paid?

The first thing you need to know is the minimum you should be paid. The UK National Minimum Wage for every age group can be found on the Minimum Wage website here

Legal… just

The first method we look at how employers underpay their staff is extremely common in domiciliary care agencies.

The care worker will only be paid for the time they are physically doing work for the company, but given a tiny sum for travel between the clients’ homes. In one case we at WeyPAW know, the care worker is paid £10 per hour for the time they are looking after the client. This might mean, for the estimated time it takes to come into the house, dress the person and perhaps make them a cup of tea.

Assume this takes 15 minutes. The worker will get £2.50. They are given time based on clear traffic to get to the next address, for which they are paid 50p. Imagine they are travelling across Weymouth in mid-July holiday traffic? They may get to two addresses for two, 15 minute calls (£5) and be travelling for £1 in that hour.

Their gross pay before National Insurance and tax are taken will be £6 an hour. 12% of £240 is £28.80 for NI. Net income £211.20 a week. £915.20 a month.

Out of that must come:

£500 on rent.

£250 on food.

Assuming their car will cost £500 a year for tax and MOT + £100 a month in fuel? £225 for a month for the car.

Let’s add in some essential bills: £40 a month on electricity. £60 on gas. £100 on council tax. Mobile phone? £30. Something over £230 just to survive.

They will be £289.80 a month in debt. This is perfectly legal. Is it ethical?

Given that these people work hard to care for the most vulnerable in society, their pay is honestly a rip off. If a company that takes money to care for people genuinely cared for the people paying them out of their pensions to care for them, shouldn’t the firm go for some wage competition? If they offered £10 an hour for the hours the worker is in uniform actually working for the care agency? £1600 a month gross. You’d see proud, dedicated care workers on £20,800 a year, doing their very best to maintain high standards. You certainly wouldn’t be hearing ‘elder abuse’ stories in the press every week!

Zero hour contracts – even on National Minimum Wage, how can you budget on that? These are legal but wholly unethical again.

Employers underpaying illegally

Let’s now dance through some common illegal working practices that are even done by major supermarkets that manage to find £1.4 billion in their back pockets to buy out home furnishings and homewares companies.

Unpaid overtime. Common in grocery store chains is asking checkout staff to do an extra quarter of an hour at the till. They are unpaid for this, but it saves the company £1.96 + other employment costs every time they do this. Rolled up across the whole company every year, the supermarket may save £10 million or more in employee costs. When was the last time a supermarket chain went bust due to lack of income?!

Many delivery drivers are considered self-employed for tax purposes. Being ‘self-employed’ you are responsible for paying your own tax, NI, and do not get paid if you are not at work. The writer of this article is self-employed and has 10 different clients for whom I do different things. I make a good living and can afford 5 or 6 holidays a year. Most ‘self-employed’ drivers get around £7.83 an hour, for which they must insure and tax their van, pay for all their home and business expenses, some adding to the pay packet of a man widely estimated to be worth £70,000,000,000. They are not paid holiday or sick pay.

The law on employment decides your actual status according to the work you are physically doing for the company – not what your contract says. If you are working for 40 hours a week for one firm and no other then the law says that you are actually employed by them. The company is breaking the law in this case.

Piecework. Delivery drivers will be paid per package they drop. If they drive through clear traffic and everything is sweet they will take £7.83 an hour. Now imagine it is Bank Holiday Monday in summer? Traffic around Weymouth and Portland is snarled up in all directions. They certainly won’t be getting paid the National Minimum Wage! Delivery drivers aren’t the only piecework paid staff…

The outright illegal

Smaller companies, perhaps that sell burgers on the beach, run a pub on Weymouth Esplanade or are council run hotels have smaller annual margins. They may actually dodge the law more flagrantly.

No employment contract. Even on ‘zero hour contracts’ you should be given an employment contract that details your sick pay, holiday pay and other entitlements. Once more that employer must observe the law.

No holiday or sickness pay. If you are formally employed by a company you are entitled to holiday or sick pay, even if working through an employment agency.

No pension payments. By law your employer must enrol you on a workplace pension scheme to which they must contribute and you must pay a small portion of your income too.

No payslip. By law an employer must give you a payslip detailing all the deductions they have made from your gross pay.

If you live in Weymouth and Portland, contact us at weypaw@gmail.com to discuss your problems. We will put you in touch with those who can help.

Just remember this – Weymouth and Portland has the lowest pay per person living here in the whole of the UK. We are not a town where the industry has moved to China or has been otherwise destroyed by market forces – we are in one of the most beautiful and most vibrant holiday towns in the UK. This is why we at WeyPAW believe fervently that Weymouth and Portland needs a pay rise!

After a successful public meeting the weekend before, so the foot soldiers of WeyPAW went to work on a soggy Saturday in Weymouth’s town centre, bringing the campaign to give the people of Weymouth and Portland a pay rise to those who most need it.

Five and a half of us (including a two year old girl) were out on the street at Saturday lunchtime engaging with the public with the need for everyone to get a pay rise.

Despite our soggy leaflets, we were well received by many people, young and old alike. It certainly warmed our hearts to see such a decent response from the public, even as they dashed between the shops to get out of the rain!

Wars aren’t won through angry letters in the press and chasing MPs up the street (however amusing that may be…) but through winning the hearts and minds of those who live in and around the area.

Is it fair that the residents of Weymouth and Portland are paid the least in the country by a large margin?

Is it right that those who ‘create the value’ of a company by owning and managing it should rip off those who actually bring the money in through illegal working practices?

Is it right that those in power should justify the allegations above as being a necessity to keep their friends in mansions and super cars?

All people want is fair pay for the work they do. For those who employ them to obey the law. You may feel your role is important as the MD or CEO, but your business has no value without those who pull your pints, clean your rooms, deliver your parcels or serve your tables. Please just remember that when you go to work every morning: those you employ are the business in the eyes of those who interact with it. Value them and your business will improve its value too.